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Loading...When you are taking off to some travel destination, isn’t there one very important thing that you need? Or two? The first being a passport, and copies of it. The second thing, which is too often left behind, is a good travel insurance. Indeed, in your home country just like elsewhere, an accident can happen, a bad flu can be caught or you can get a severe food poisoning. The difference is that without any insurance, a journey in a foreign hospital can literally cost you both arms and legs. Therefore, it’s very important to have a travel insurance, as it can save you from paying enormous amount of money in hospital bills. You have to be even more careful if you are a scuba diver. Indeed, most regular travel insurance won’t cover for injuries that occur from the practice of extreme sports like bungee jumping, surfing, and scuba diving! Now, let’s compare diving insurance companies and see which gets your back and at what cost.
Let’s compare the scuba diving insurance policies
Before we start, let’s mention the main criteria we’re looking at when shopping for the best scuba diver’s insurance.
1. Coverage
You want to make sure that the coverage is high enough and adequate to cover the eventual costs of the most expensive treatments such as evacuation and hyperbaric chamber. This varies a lot between the various insurances. Some coverages are unlimited while others are quite low. Also, make sure you take a look at the exclusions a.k.a the fine prints of your insurance as there are major variations for example in the criteria to match in order to have emergency evacuation covered.
2. Particularities such as depth and gas limitations
Some insurance companies have strict policies which would invalidate your coverage if you go deeper than you should or if you are using any other breathing gas, but air.
3. Extras coverage
There are scuba diving insurances which include regular travel insurance as well. And vice-versa. You might want to check for those who do, depending on the type of travel you are going for. Indeed, with extras such as trip cancellation insurance, trip interruption insurance, transportation for your spouse or relatives, etc., it can be worth spending a little more for a complete insurance package.
4. Diving equipment insurance
For most scuba divers, the practice of this sport is quite expensive. Indeed, we bring a lot of toys down in the deep blue which are worth a whole lot of money. Ranging from scuba gear to expensive underwater cameras, some of us have it all. We advise to look for an insurance plan that includes material coverage, or to get a separate diving material coverage. Indeed, you can damage your gear while diving, or have it stolen, so it’s better to be prepared.
Now, let’s go through the main scuba diving insurance plans so that you can figure which one suits your needs best.
World Nomads
- This is a general travel insurance which also covers for risky activities such as scuba diving.Coverage + Extra Coverage + Gear Protection:
- General travel insurance with extended coverage.
- Trip Cancellation
- Emergency Medical Expenses
- Emergency Medical Transportation
- Gear Protection
- Much more.
- Different plans for you to choose from, according to the activities you plan to do.
- Most “risky” activities are covered under one plan or another.
- All the SCUBA diving is covered, on different levels.
*Example below is for United-States residents in the date of July 2017
Coverage Scuba diving – paid or volunteer instructor or guide (to 165 feet/50 meters)
Plan Explorer
Scuba diving (Cave or cavern diving to 165 feet/ 50 meters) Explorer Scuba diving (commercial to 165 feet/50 meters) Explorer Scuba diving (to 165 feet/50 meters) Standard Scuba diving (unqualified/learn to dive course/discover dive with qualified instructor) Standard Scuba diving to 50 metres Standard Shark cage diving (to 165 feet/50 meters) Explorer *Please note that coverages can and do change, please see the full list here for the updated coverage of this insurance company.
Particularities & Limitations:
The best way to know if any limitations or exclusions apply to you is by reading the fine prints when you make a quote. We would love to state them all here for you but that’s not possible as the limitations in the coverage vary according to your country of origin and country of destination.
Price Example:
- 1 month/30 days coverage, 30 years old New York, USA resident travelling to Indonesia and Thailand
- Standard plan is 131$US
- Explorer plan is 190$US
- Get your very own quote right here.
https://www.worldnomads.com/travel-insurance/travel-insurance-quote
- General travel insurance with extended coverage.
DAN – Divers Alert Network
The many insurance plans available through the Divers Alert Network require you to be a DAN member in order to buy any coverage. It’s a secondary insurance, which pays 100% of eligible expenses.
Coverage:
- Dive Accident Insurance: 3 plans are offered, covering medical dive accidents to different maximum amounts and offering various extras.
- DAN also offer various regular travel insurance plans.
*The example below is for a United-States resident, but the plan is different regarding in which state you live. Also, the plan would be totally different for a Canadian resident as well.
| Preferred | Master | Standard | ||||
| $ 75 | $40 | $30 | ||||
| Medical Dive Accident Coverage | $250,000 | PO | $125,000 | LT | $45,000 | LT |
| Accidental Death & Dismemberment | $15,000 | $15,000 | ||||
| Permanent & Total Disability | $15,000 | $15,000 | ||||
| Extra Transportation | $2,000 | $1,000 | ||||
| Extra Accommodation | $3,000 | $1,500 | ||||
| Lost Diving Equipment | $2,500 | $2,500 | ||||
| Medical Non-Dive Accident Coverage | $10,000 | LT |
Source : http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/insurance/dive/
*Please note that coverages can and do change, please see the full list here for the updated coverage of this insurance company.
Particularities & Limitations: there are no mileage restrictions on scuba diving incidents. For other restrictions, see with the different plans.
Price example: please see presented plan above.
Dive Assure
Dive Assure is a primary insurance company offering both scuba diving and travel insurance around the world.
+ They offer direct payment to the medical care suppliers.
Coverage:
- They also offer multi-trip plans as well as regular travel insurance. Check their webpage.
- Dive Assure offers two different scuba diving insurance plans, which you can see below.
Gold / Platinum
Emergency Medical & Evacuation Expenses $150,000 / $250,000
Accidental Death and Disability $10,000 / $25,000
Loss of personal diving equipment $2,000 / $4,000
Repatriation of remains $5,000 / $10,000
Flight/Accommodation – extra expenses following diving accident $3,000 / $5,000
Depth limit None / None
Annual coverage available Yes / Yes
Short term coverage available Yes / No
*Please note that coverages can and do change, please see the full list here for the updated coverage of this insurance company.
Particularities & Limitations: Both the Gold and Platinum plan of Dive Assure have no depth or mixed gas restrictions.
Price Example:
- 1 month/30 days coverage for a SHORT-TERM DIVING trip, 30 years old New York, USA resident travelling to dive outside the USA
- Gold plan is 79$US
- Platinum plan is 129$US (annual coverage only, no short term)
Get your very own quote right here.
Of course, there are many more great travel and scuba diving insurances out there. You now have the knowledge to go and seek for the insurance company that will fit your needs best! Please share your best and worst travel insurance story with us in the comments below! Finally, here’s a little checklist you can use!
What to look for in a travel insurance?
To sum this all up, here’s a point by point of what you should pay attention to when shopping for a travel and/or scuba diving insurance.
- 24-hour emergency assistance?
- Complete medical coverage, including for extreme sports and outdoor activities, especially for scuba diving?
- All scuba diving related treatment, such as hyperbaric chamber, are covered?
- Any limitations?
- Repatriation coverage, check the mileage limits of some policies.
- Public liability insurance versus not covered?
- Gear protection coverage, for loss and damage of any travel gear and including scuba diving material?
- Trip interruption and/or cancellation insurance?
- Get all the extra coverages you need?
- Read the fine prints for details related to your particular country of origin and destination?
If you can say “yes” to all this, it seems like you’re ready to go and explore!
Awesome, so helpful. Thank you very much!
I am looking into insurance now for an upcoming trip, and was getting very overwhelmed with all the different options – you have just cleared up all my questions and set me in the right direction!
WARNING!!! AQUAMED IS A SCAM AND LEFT ME IN THAILAND TO DIE!!!
WORST COMPANY EVER. I HAVE BEEN USING DAN FOR YEARS WITH NO PROBLEM. I WAS INJURED AND THEY FOUND A WAY OUT OF IT. LEAVING ME WITH NO COVERAGE AND WAS PUT ON THE STREET TO DIE BECAUSE OF THEM. THEY GOT MY 200 A YEAR AND THAT’S ALL THEY CARE ABOUT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
AquaMed is not DAN. It sounds like you should have stayed with DAN.
Hi
I am Morteza Moasheri and I have 2 diving international certificates(one star and two star)
I am applying for work at your academy as a diving instructor
Please email your answer LINK REMOVED
Thanks a lot
Yours sincerely:
Morteza Moasheri
Hi M. Moasheri,
Please note that there is a Job Board available on Divezone, right here: https://divezone.net/jobs
Thus, you have to use this tool to browse job offers and present yourself with your resume. Our site is also a diving and travel community / informative website and comments such as the 4 others like this one that you wrote and that were deleted won’t be accepted. Please use the job board for work related inquiries to compagnies having positions to fill, not random liveaboard presentation pages and blog posts comment sections.
Best of luck in your diving career.
As an older Washington state resident DAN will no longer insure me. They claim it is because of the state insurance commissioner but I contacted the commission, who stated that DAN had simply not filled out the necessary paperwork. If you are young they offer WA state residents only a very expensive ($125) policy that is totally unnecessary for most divers (beyond recreational limits and using gases other than air or nitrox
I’ve been insured through DAN for years, but never had a claim. Suddenly, because I moved to Quebec, I am no longer insurable. GOOD GRIEF…talk about being dumped. I contacted DAN and was told ‘legislative change’, by an admin who thought she was being helpful (so cute really). I have always been impressed with DAN, but this leaves a sour taste. I am now going with DiveAssure and will probably not go back to DAN (sorry DAN…I still like you….but…..)
Hello, normally I never do this, but now I find it my duty to share my experiences with DiveAssure.
Please follow my advice and don’t trust this company. I had a really bad experience with them.
They do everything to shift their responsibility and not have to pay what you are entitled to as a policyholder.
It is almost impossible to reach their customer service. They pretend that you don’t exist. If you are really lucky and do get hold of them they promise you everything and make major professional mistakes (see below)!
For months I’m waiting for a solution and asked several times to provide me a copy of my dossier to take legal action. They just ignore this simple question.
Which worries me the most is the fact that Dive Assure is careless with personal data and the privacy of customers and staff! I received personal data and confidential medical information from another customer. In addition, I have also received the pay slip from a staff member in my mailbox.
From this I learned that DiveAssure works with a call center in India and that they pay their staff a starvation wage. No wonder these people are unable to help customers!
I do not want to think about what can go wrong in an urgent emergency situation…
I hope that after this message you will think twice before you decide to join DiveAssure.
Dive Assure , will not pay on insurance claims. They have a loop hole for every incident. I purchased their trip cancellation policy, my flight was changed by the airline and I missed the last leg of the journey. They wouldn’t pay my claim, many emails back a forth, they just wear you down. Absolutely, a complete waste of money.